Keeping the Home by Lori Seaborg

Friday, August 26, 2005

Creating a Household Notebook

To help you get organized, or to help with your sanity, you may like to create a Household Notebook. A Household Notebook is a place for you to keep menus, recipes that you often need, emergency phone numbers, party plans, schedules, etc. You can call it a "Control Journal," like FlyLady does; a "Household Notebook" like I do; or "My Big Book," like my sister-in-law does.

I keep my Household Notebook in one of those white 3-ring binders with see-through covers. I like my Household Notebook large. You may want something smaller. Don't be picky about this detail; just grab an empty notebook from your kids' stash, and do it!

Creating the Household Notebook: Where Do I Begin?

Here are instructions from FlyLady on creating a "Control Journal": FlyLady's Control Journal instructions

Here are instructions from OrganizedHome.com: The Household Notebook

From Large Family Logistics: Building Your Home Management Book

Creating the Household Notebook: Pretty Pages to Add to It

I like my Household Notebook to be pretty. I won't use it if it's too ugly to look at!

Below are some great templates for creating a Household Notebook. Just print them out, 3-hole punch them, and put them in your regular-sized 3-ring binder. These pages make creating your notebook - or adding to it - very easy.

Click on the headings below for the printables (the ones with .pdf will open as a printable file):

Basic Planner Pages from OrganizedHome.com

includes menu pages; empty pages; emergency numbers; pantry; freezer; party planning; the front cover of your notebook, and more I use these pages often.

Christmas Countdown Holiday Planner from OrganizedHome.com

a great six-week planner to print out to help you plan for the holidays. I think you could adapt this to any large get-together or other holiday

Financial Control Journal from FlyLady.com (.pdf)

includes advice and articles on managing your finances

Holiday Control Journal from FlyLady.com (.pdf)

includes articles

Office Control Journal from FlyLady.com (.pdf)

a good one for a work-at-home mom, but I think you could use some of its ideas for your schoolroom

Traveling Control Journal from FlyLady.com (pdf)

a journal for vacations and traveling

Weekly Planner and Menu Planner from The HomeschoolMom.com (.pdf) Click here for the FlyLady version. I love this one!

Household Pages from Donna Young

Includes a greeting card register and chore chart (under "home") and even includes a half-size planner for those of you who want to create a small Household Notebook

More Household Notebook Charts by A Virtuous Woman

Includes various chore charts for different numbers of children; babysitter chart; budget chart; and other household charts

Enjoy the above forms, but don't get so caught up in creating your notebook, that you don't get it done! I'll post photos and progress as I work on my own notebook.

by Lori Seaborg